It's been one of those weeks for me.
Feel the need to write this, because to be honest, I'm too tired to write about anything else.
This week was another life lesson.
It's hard to see your parents get older.
For the last 7-8 years my mom's health hasn't been the greatest, a heart attack, venial bypass surgery, neck surgery...You name it.
She's the one that got me into reading harlequin and silhoulette books in my teen years.
Now she doesn't read at all. She seems happy enough but she's literally a shell of her vibrant self.
This week, my 75 year old aunt totally forgot we had people coming over to do a lot of things around the house. Since she has trouble with her eyesight she never looked at the calendar and wondered why on the same day we had a whole batch of pool people, people to clean out the gutter and the a/c service man all there in the morning.
I guess isn't wasn't that she forgot that upset me, it's how she reacted to all of them. All of them she had known for years, she flipped out on them and on me.
She apologized, because she knew the work was annual, and needed to be done, but since this was the first time that she didn't have anything to do with setting things up. It hurt her.
I realized how hard it must be for her, my mom and unfortunately my dad to rely on us now for the most simplest things.
I did write a lot this week, but I'm not happy with my Nocturne Bites. Think I'll sit this one out. Wish all of you who are entering the pitch and your submissions the best.
Write away-Shell 
It's so hard!
Shell,
I understand what you're going through. I have been the primary caretaker of my parents for several years now. My dad suffered from Alzheimer's and I was the about the only one who could get through to him in the end. He always knew me, but it was so hard to watch his disintegration over the years. He passed away last summer, and I miss him terribly, even though he wasn't the Daddy I'd known all my life, I could at least touch him, love him, and talk to him, whether he responded or not. It's been a tough year for my family and me. I had to make the decision to move Daddy to a nursing home a year and a half before he passed away. My brother and sisters supported the decision, but I had to do the deed. I think that was harder than his death, to be honest. The day we moved him from the hospital to the nursing home, is a day I won't ever forget. He was in a drug induced sleep when we moved him via ambulance. That walk down the hallway from his room to the exit was the longest I think I've ever made. By the time I reached the nurse's station I was in tears.
I guess the moral to my story is...enjoy the years, even though it's hard to watch your parents and aunt age....you won't ever regret a single thing you've done for them. Growing older is as hard on them, as it is on us to watch...they don't like to give up their independence any more than we want to take it from them. My hat's off to you!
Hugs,
Chy
"Love, true love, is all about giving of yourself, without regard to what you may or may not get in return." --Kate McCabe (A Texas Wedding Vow)
It's a pity that "adulthood" sometimes makes us forget that
life is a cycle, babies and young children have no problems letting us clean up their messes because that's life for them, then they "grow up" and learn to take care of their own messes until we grow old and they're the ones taking care of our messes. I know my mother wasn't very happy when after her stroke she had a few accidents and I was helping her clean up, but I reminded her that it's natural and nothing to be ashamed of, that she had done it often enough for me, so I could do it for her, no problem. Frustration over not being able to do it for yourself is something we see in our children and our parents and it's just as logical for us to experience it when we get to the point where our desires outgrow our capabilities. It would be nice if we were all patient with ourselves and with others, but frustration is not a "nice" emotion, the most we can hope for is to live through it to the better times.
Hugs
Sadhbh
Dream Team 2008 Challenge blogs
Thanks everyone for the
Thanks everyone for the nice comments.
I appreicate it. I guess even though I've been dealing with it for a while, unfortunately it's very hard to get used to.
Oh well, we love and support them regardless and do what we can for them because they loved and did it for us when we were younger.
Hugs. Shell
parents aging
My husband and I moved my parents in with us when my Mom's heart was starting to fail . This was in October and the folowing June she passed away. They were from a small town in southern Alberta, Canada and we lived in Calgary. Dad did not like living in a city and by the next October he was in a nursing home close to the small town he lived in for most of his life . He passed away just after Valentine's day the next year. It was so hard and tiring having them live with us but now ten years later I would not give up that time for anything. It is so hard to live with the cycle of life and death but hang in there and enjoy all the good moments and try to forget and forgive the bad ones. Like you my Mom started me reading Harlequin and I remember her every time I read one.
When I get a little money I buy books, and then if any is left I buy food and clothes..-- Erasmus
Thanks so much Kaelee
Thanks Kaelee.
Definitely enjoying their company.
Shell....
I don't really know what else to say that hasn't been said by everyone else. So here's a virtual hug instead: {{{Shell}}}
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Parents
I did the opposite of what most people do I guess. Instead of moving my parents in with me I moved next door to my parents even though it added time to my commute each morning. I guess I got luck when the house next door went up for sale (we had known the person who owned it for over 30 years). I was lucky enough to be able to keep them at their home which made things a lot easier on everyone.
ELLEN TOO
A true teacher is a person who, at the end of the school day, still likes children!
Thanks for the support everyone!
Thanks for the support all!
I appreciate it!